Process for the working of passenger ropeways with continuous traffic



Nov. 1, 1932. A. RUBIN 1,886,050

PROCESS FOR THE WORKING OF PASSENGER ROPEWAYS WITH CONTINUOUS TRAFFIC Filed Nov. 3, 1930 {Sheets-Sheet 1 Fly].

Nov. 1, 1932. v A. RUBIN 1,886,050

PROCESS FOR THE WORKING OF PASSENGER ROPEWAYS WITH CONTINUOUS TRAFFIC Filed Nov. 5, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I Q Q I I Q W 8 g lg N I: is

Patented Nov. 1, 1932 UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE ADOLPH RUBIN, or LEIPZIG, GERMANY, assronon TO THE FIRM ADOLF BLEIGHERT &

co. A.-G. or minus, GERMANY PROCESS FOR THE WORKING OF PASSENGER ROPEWAYS WITH CONTINUOUS TRAFFIC Application filed November 3, 1930, Serial No. 492,981, and in Germany March 14, 1930.

This invention relates to the operation of suspended or otherwise supportedvehicles, such as tram cars, by means ottravelling ropes or cables, and has among its objects to provide novel means for bringinga car from a state of rest gradually up to the rate of speed of the main power rope or cable in instances where the main power rope moves constantly at a fixed or substantially fixed rate of speed; to provide for either automatic or manual coupling of the car to the main power rope when the car has attained either the speed of the main power rope or any other suitable or desired speed; to provide for either automatic or manual disconnection of the car from the means for'initiating movement thereof, and to provide means of a simple, reliable and thoroughly practicable nature to accomplish such purposes.

,With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will become more apparent as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the novel combination and arrangement of features as will be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and defined in the appended claims.

In the drawings, wherein like characters of reference denote corresponding parts in the respective views I Figure 1 is a view partly in elevation and partly in transverse section illustrating the car equipment in accordance with a practical embodiment of the invention; and

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic side elevation illustrating different operative positions of the car.

- According to the particular embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings, the

. car, designated generally as 10, is equipped with a trolley 11 and by means of said trolley is suspended from a rail 12 for travel therealong.

Power for moving the car 10 along the rail 12 is furnished by a main power rope or cable designated as a, and a secondary power rope or cable designated as F), these ropes or cables extending in side toside spaced relation below the rail 12 and being driven in any suitable or desired manner not entering into the invention.

, The main power rope (it travels constantly at a fixed or substantially fixed rate of speed,

but the rate of travel of the secondary power,

rope b is variable between minimum and maximum speeds, the maximum speed thereof preferably being equal or substantially equal to the normal speed of travel of the main power rope a, and-the minimum speed thereof being either zero or any relatively low speed desired. In other words, while the rope a travels at a given rate of speed, the rope 6 starting from a state of rest or from its lowest speed, gradually increases in speed to the speed of the rope a, slows down or latter is in a state of rest or is travelling at a relatively low rate of speed, be brought by said cable gradually up to the speed of travel of the cable a and then be coupled to the latter cable, whereby all shocks such as would occur by a coupling of the car initially with the cable a may be avoided.

The means for coupling the car with and uncoupling the same from the ropes a and b isillustrated in the present instance as comprising a pair of clamp devices carried by the car for cooperation with the ropes a and b, respectively, and each inclusive of a fixed jaw and a movable jaw, the fixed jaws being constituted by the opposite side portions of an upward extension 0 of a bracket a suitably mounted on the car, and the movable jaws, designated as g and f, respectively, being constituted by members pivoted to the bracket 0 at opposite sides thereof for swin ing movement towards and from their related side portions of the upward extension 0'.

The ropes a and Z) are disposed, respectively, between the aws g and f and the adjacent sides of the fixed jaw elements 0 so that by inward swinging movement of either of the movable jaws the car is coupled to the related rope, and by outward swinging movement of the jaws the car is uncoupled from the ropes for continued travel of the ropes without efl'ect to move the car. Coil springs interposed between the element and the jaws g and f, or other means of an equivalent nature, preferably are provided to urge the jaws to their outwardly swung or released positions.

Extendin throu h the element a and the ram? 7' we? projecting beyond the 1 outer faces of said jaws is a shaft Zthe end rtions of which are screw threaded and V0 threaded fliereon the hub portions 0 and respectivel of a pair of levers i and k. e inner en s of said hub portions are 16 I I I:

of' he jaws g and f, respectively, and the :aft l is fixed to the elpmerlilt 0'1, and thus, sW-ingm' gmovement o eit er ever in one o. directionor the other 0 inward or outward as the case may be to move the related clamp jaw either inward or to release it for outward movement to effect either coupling or uncoupling of the related 2 power cable with or from the car.

The levers i and k are adapted for automatic actuation by means of cam devices suitably arranged along the rail 12,rwhereby couand uncoupling of the car with and f the power ropes a and b is effected in a predetermined manner. However, it is desir-able that coupling and uncoupling of the car and from t 0 power ropes be placed also under the manual control of the operator of the car, and to this end the hub portions of the levers z' and is have fixed thereto spigot wheels m and n, respectively, over a w are trained sprocket chains q and 1', respectively which extend into the car over sprocket wheels t equipped with suitable means for manually rotating the same. Thus, rotation of the hubs o and p to couple the car with or uncou Ie the same from either cable not b may be ected manually as well as automaticalfly. In Figure 2 of the drawings is illustrated a cam device e for actuating the lever In to efiect coupling of the car to the rope b; a cam device e s aced a suitable distance along therail 12 mm the cam device e for actuthe lever 11 to effect coupling of the car to e rope a, and a cam device e suitably with res ct to the cam device 6 for actuating the ever is to efi'ect release of the car from the cable Z1.

Assuming the car to be in a state of rest adjacent to the cam device 6, sufiicient movement of the car is efl'ected in any desired manner to cause the lever is to engage and be swung by the cam device e to cause the .r b to-be clampedbetween the element 0 l a the jaw f, or, alternatively, the cam device 0' may be eliminated and the chain r 7 may lie-manipulated to accomplish the same In either event, coupli of the car with the rop b is effected while the rope in engagement with the outer faces its hub is moved either is in a state of rest or is movin slowly, and thus, as the s ed of travel 0 said rope is accelerated, t e car is brought up to the speed of travel of the rope a. At or about this time the lever i strikes the cam device 6 and is swung thereby to efiect coupling of the car tothe cable a, and immediately thereafter, or at any other proper time, the lever is, by continued movement of the car, strikes the cam device e and is swung thereby to uncouple the car from the rope I). The car mow being carried along by the cable a continues to travel therewith until a cam device similar to those shown is struck by the lever i, whereupon said lever is swung to unoonple the car from the cable a, or, alternatively, uncoupling of the car from the cable a may be manually effected at any time desired by manipulation of the chain The levers i and k preferably are equipped with rollers d for cooperation with the cam devices, and guide sheaves h preferably are provided ad'acent to the clamp jaws f and g to support t e ropes a and b when the latter are moving idly through the open clamp deoo vices.

While only a single embodiment of the invention has been 1 lnstrated and described,

it is obvious that the features of the invention may be embodied in various other mechanicalstructures within the spirit and scope of the inpenltion as defined in the appended claims.

1. A track, a vehicle movable therealong, a pair of ower ropes extending contiguous to the true and travelling, respectively, one at a substantially constant rate of speed and the other at a variable speed, and means for co lin and uncoupling the car selectively wit an from saidro es.

2. A track, a vehicle movable therealong, a pair of power ropes extending contiguous to the track and travelling, respectively, one

at a substantially constant rate of speed and the other at a variable speed, and means op-- erable in response to movement of the car along the track to couple and unoouple the car with and from said cables in a predetermined manner.

3. A track, a vehicle movable therealong, a pair of power ropes extending contingous to the track and travelling, respectively, one at a substantially constant rate of speed and the other at a variable speed, and a pair of.

rope clamp devices carried by the car for cooperation with said ropes, respectively, and separately operable to couple and uncouple the car with and from the respective ropes.

4. A track, a vehicle movable thereaiong a pair of power ropes extending contiguous to the track and travelling, respectively, one at a substantially constant rate of speed and the other at a variable speed, a pair of rope clamp devices carried by the car for cooperation with said ropes, respectively, and actuating devices located along the track for cooperation with said clamp devices to actuate the latter to couple and uncouple the car with and from the respective ropes in predetermined sequence.

5. A track, a vehicle movable therealong, a pair of power ropes extending contiguous to the track and travelling, respectively, one at a substantially constant rate of speed and the other at a variable speed, means for coupling the car to the second mentioned rope, means operable by movement of the car with said second mentioned rope to couple the car to the first'mentioned rope, and means operable by continued movement of the car to uncouple the same from the second mentioned rope.

6. A track, a vehicle movable therealong,

' a pair of power ropes extending contiguous to the track and travelling, respectively, one at a substantially constant rate of speed and the other at a variable speed, a pair of clamp devices carried by the car for cooperation with said ropes, respectively, to couple and uncouple the car with and from said ropes, means for manually actuating each clamp device to efi'ect coupling and uncoupling of the car with and from said ropes, and means operable in response to movement of the car to effect coupling and uncoupling of the same with and from said ropes automatically in predetermined sequence.

7. A track, a vehicle movable therealong, a pair of power ropes extending contiguous to said track and travelling, respectively, one at a substantially constant rate of speed and the other at a variable speed, a pair of clamp devices carried by the car for cooperation with said ropes to couple and uncouple the car with and from said ropes, each clamp device including a fixed i aw and a movable jaw, a fixed threaded shaft, a member threaded on the shaft and adapted by threaded movement therealong for cooperation with the movable jaw to move the same toward the fixed j aw, means for manually rotating said member, and a lever arm carried by said member for cooperation with an element located along the track to efiect automatic rotation of said member either to move the movable j aw in a rope clamping direction or to permit the same to move in a rope releasing direction.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

ADOLF RUBIN. 

